Fantasy Behold, the Shadow Lord Returns (CS)

[Dolches]

The thread for character sheets for "Behold, the Shadow Lord returns".
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Name:
The character's name.
Age:
The character's age.
Appearance:
The character's appearance. Although an image is preferred, a description is as acceptable.
Personality:
The character's general personality. You can be as specific or as vague as you want. Even just the "archetype" of character you want them to fill would work.
Background:
The character's backstory or general background.
Role:
Is this character the hero? A part of his party?
Abilities:
What is the character capable of? This is the determining factor of their role(s).
Reason for joining the Hero's party:
Why are they risking their life in what has historically proven itself to be a suicide mission? Surely they'd need a good reason!

 

[Nellancholy]

Name:
Jenelle Onikata Raven Gladia Phosphor Saturniidae Svengali Vanitas XXVII (it's an alias)

Age:
Known to have existed for several centuries at least

Appearance:

While eyewitnesses generally attribute to her a hag-like appearance or a "roiling mass of burgeoning flesh", Svengali currently appears in a more docile form resembling a fairy-like humanoid, likely as a concession to King Brontos.

Personality:
Svengali presents herself as a kind, potentially doting individual, caring and devoted to those who trust her, and with a serene demeanor. The truth, while not the opposite, is quite different. She is in fact a prideful being who enjoys the pursuit of all manner of knowledge, and exercising the vast power it gives her. While she does not seek political power or wealth, she enjoys most when people are at her mercy, within her power to help or hurt.

Background:
The origins of the being now known as Jenelle Onikata Raven Gladia Phosphor Saturniidae Svengali Vanitas XXVII is unknown, though anyone who has witnessed their sorcery at work cannot deny that they are a voracious, passionate scholar of the sciences and arcane arts, with a particular specialization in biomancy: the art of manipulating organic life and growth. What can be speculated at is that they were a researcher within one of the great academies of the world before the second Shadow War, who conveniently disappeared right as the Shadow Lord emerged. After the fact, many who knew of their work speculated that they had willingly affiliated with the Shadow Lord, or simply exploited the presence of his corrupting magic to further their perverse experiments. Few voiced the dissenting opinion, that they had used their expertise to aid in battle against the Shadow Lord any way they could.

Within the next few centuries, all who knew of this being had passed, but the supernatural and the dark never fully faded. Whenever the tale of a werewolf stalking the woods was told, or rumors of a child-eating hag in a hut at the outskirts of the village were spread, it was never impossible that Svengali was behind at least some of them. What is known now in the present day is that one day, the knights of a certain holy kingdom hauled in a grotesque figure accused of heresy, witchcraft, and a litany of other crimes, a figure that was then hurled into the deepest dungeon with seemingly no means of escape.

During his search for powerful allies, King Brontos of Grijan eventually heard tell of this being, and ventured forth to speak with them. No one else knows what passed between them, but eventually that being was released, and enlisted into the effort of preparing the hero for the next Shadow War.

Abilities:
Svengali's chief talent is biomancy, wielded alongside a staggering expertise in chemistry and medicine. Biomancy, while a field of study that has become more obscure in recent years, is known to overlap considerably with alchemy, the practice of transmuting and refining materials and objects both natural and arcane. Through biomancy, Svengali has been able to grant herself an almost protean level of physical mastery. On this particular quest, her expertise lends itself to aiding others with the means needed to overcome physical obstacles and adversaries of various sorts with transformations that are thankfully, temporary. Need wings to cross a gap, or eyes that can see in the dark? She will grant them to you, albeit often not in the cleanest form. Need armor that can withstand swords? Hope you don't mind moving with chitin engulfing your skin.

Naturally, biomancy can heal even severe diseases and wounds too, though not as swiftly and cleanly as holy magic. Any permanent transformations or extensive healing tend to require hours of ministration. Furthermore, biomancy is not directly equipped to deal with elemental or spiritual magic.

Reason for joining the Hero's party:
Svengali seems willing to honor her debt to King Brontos, even if the exact terms and their relationship are unclear to anyone but them. Perhaps having witnessed the previous Shadow War is enough to drive her to avert the coming one, too.

 

[argotNaut]

• MEANS
• LOOKS

• 
  NAME: Nyrthe Gordemann
  
  AGE: 19
  
  PERSONALITY: In spite of his background, Nyr isn't the kind of lad you'd expect to come across in a church. He doesn't veil his voice with breathy suspense, he doesn't draw out pauses that make one uneasy and his words hit with great precision. Truth be told, the guy is quite sharp and direct, enough for even his close ones to feel the sharp edge of his sincerity. If something is downright bad, then he'll gladly absolve you of blissful ignorance and lay down the facts. Be it a deadly wound, a person's hurt feelings or even the taste of your cooking, Nyrthe would find a way to get through to anybody. All this would have made him a saint living if it came pre-packaged with the ability to read the room; his unabashed wordings has landed him in quite a lot of fights, many of which he couldn't even comprehend. Sharp realism notwithstanding, Nyrthe is actually quite helpful. He is willing to put up with just about any company, even though he himself is a recluse, and wouldn't hesitate to offer a struggling person some guidance.
  
  BACKGROUND: Orphaned at a young age, Nyrthe was made a foster child of an elderly bishop, swiftly becoming his sole disciple. Bathing in the luminance of his gift, Nyr was heralded as a possible new symbol for the holy deeds. He was destined to be nominated as the successor to the episcopacy and ascend through the church, owing to his diligence and aptness to the role, but an incident occured right before the nomination. The details of it have been lost to time—tough luck to anyone who tries to get Nyr to talk—and are rather irrelevant, but the gravity of it forced the priest-to-be into hiding. A short while after, he fled his homeland for one of Grijan-allied powers, famous for both prosperity and security. There he allegedly "awakened his magic", "made quick amends" with the church and continued on to King Brontos' realm.
  
  When talking about his past, Nyr is prone to tell the truth in a strange way, enough for it to give his person a suitably murky backdrop. It isn't obvious straight away, yet the story Nyr likes to tell is pulled apart when one begins to question it, which surprisingly isn't the case with most people. If a serious inquiry was made about his alleged wrongdoings, how come he was granted free passage and the ability to clear it all with nonchalance? If his abilities awakened after his escape from home, what of his "gifts" that shone during his upbringing?
  
  Above all, even the fact that he was brought up by churchmen doesn't align with him apparently receiving a secular education. Why apparently, you ask? Because no single child can learn so much about theoretical magic, sacred geometry and spirits only because they were raised by a clergyman.
  
  REASON: When Nyr's suspicious background is considered, a multitude of reasons can be put forward, the most likely of which having to do with his decision to take part in the assault against the Shadow Lord being somewhat orchestrated by the episcopacy. Nyr himself, however, believes that this is a way to atone for all that he has done, for the disgrace he inflicted on his parent and on the holy seat. However, what would he say when asked by someone to voice his reason? Correct, he would say something along the lines of "This feels like the right thing to do for me". Classic Gordemann.
  
  ABILITIES: Nyrthe was born a wizard with a talent for spiritual magic. His attunement to otherworldly planes caused his abilities to turn inward, not outward, the energy of spirits maturing his soul as time went on. In the past it would cause him a lot of trouble, with surges of power so violent they shone through his flesh, but his religious upbringing allowed him to somewhat structure his gift. Until he experienced a breakthrough, his consciousness advancing to the boundary between humans and spirits, his light magic was mostly limited to illusions and a pretty display of colours. Now, however, his shine is both blinding and terrifying, able to scorch flesh and melt soul. To say of nothing of light being powerful, he has enough of a control to be able to make it semi-corporeal, forming an aura out of it and potentially being able to forge himself a weapon. Apart from that, his summoning skills have progressed as well, allowing him to call a spirit to assist him with minimal preparations, though calling on to someone specific would take time. Given that he wasn't educated as a formal summoner, he operates mainly on intuition and his senses, which makes planning in advance virtually useless.
  
  Logically, Nyr is a volatile asset for any team. His use of magic is best described as chaotic. He doesn't know a thing about tactics and resorts to blinding everyone in his vicinity whenever things go south. He isn't always able to restrict his light from burning someone nearby. Even then, he is surprisingly not as useful as you'd think against demons, since his light isn't a holy one. Physical yes, spiritual too, but not sacred, for he both wasn't taught such a thing and isn't gifted. However, he is more potent against the creatures of shadow than ordinary mages, but he wouldn't be able to annihilate them with a twist of the hand.
  
• 

 

[Spoiled Bread]

Name:
Ruth Bless
Age:
26
Appearance:
Standing at 6'8 with expresionless face and a greatsword almost as tall as herself, Ruth's appearance can be quite intimidating. She wears her armor even whe she's not in combat.
Personality:
The stoic paranoid demon hunter knight. Ruth is rather awkward socially but she's trying to be better at human interaction. Her hobby is splitting demon right in the middle, oh, the normal one? fishing.
Background:
She's one of the few survivor of an incident involving a demonic cult's ritual gone wrong. Several demons rampaged through a backwater village and killed quite a number of people due to how unprepared they were. Pressed into the corner the young Ruth picked up an iron pipe and managed to kill one of the more weaker demon. It didn't help much at stopping the demons' slaughterfest but a kid screaming while crying and repeatedly bashing the head of a dead demon into gory mess was quite a sight for the military reinforcement that arrived at the village. She would later be recruited into Black Chapter, a rather secretive sub-division of the church that handles problems involved with the remains of the last shadow reign, mostly about cults, cursed objects and magical residue.
Role:
the party
Abilities:
swordplay, martial arts, ritual magic, enhancement magic, fishing, horse-riding
Reason for joining the Hero's party:
She wants to split the shadow lord right in the middle

 

[Karcen]

Name:
Viza Zeveh
Age:
345
Appearance:

Spoiler: close up

Spoiler: full outfit

Personality:
Odd and chaotic yet friendly would be the way most would describe her. Viza like most of those in the Chronographer order tend to be a bit confusing to those outside their order. She will often go of on seemingly random tangents and seemingly gets directed easy even if she says she saw this part already. To her the universe is one great illusionary machine and she like her order but poke and prod with care while keeping the machine intact.
Background:
With her parents both being members of the slightly secretive order of chronographers Viza was of course inducted into the order and augmented practically from birth. The order often augments members to better help with their studies of the great illusion as they call it using magic blended with science. Viza's early life could mostly be called boring, hidden away in the under ground strong holds of the order there was no real hardship beyond the constant study and time space anomalies. Still the order was not secluded group of hermits fearful of the outside and Viza got to meet with travelers from all over who wished to join or trade with the order.

Viza would grow up gaining more augments as she displayed her aptitude with the magic and theories of the order. She didn't really discover anything earthshaking, but did find new ways to prove what the order had already understood. This allowed them to push even further with bending space and time bringing her renown and greater freedom of research and topics. Viza personally preferred the temporal studies over those seeking to disprove reality. She helped better perfect the spells and theories that allowed the order the mastery over time they currently have, despite it being honestly limited.

Still Viza could not study temporal magic alone as time and space are linked and so she has learned how to warp and fold space to attack, defend, and other interesting tasks. She actually created a new enchantment to allow the inside dimensions of something to be greatly expanded compared to their external dimensions while not altering weight. This greatly helped in expanding facilities, and helping them be even more confusing to outsiders, but also the bags were traded for good prices.

With the shadow lord being revived Viza has been selected by the augurs to aid the hero as they have seen she will be part of the party thus only she can go.

Role:
DPS mage and resident cryptic person
Abilities:
As a chronographer Viza can
Slow time in the local area allowing while she and other move unimpeeded ( arrows and spells however are slowed)

Stop time for a little bit in the local area ( sadly enemies and objects can't actually be hurt or moved during it is just good to catch your breath)
Fold space into various devastating spells

Reason for joining the Hero's party:
The augurs of the order have determined the hero has a better chance in the creation of a timeline where the shadow lords falls with Viza aiding him than he does with others.

 

[BuggaBoo]

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Our lips must always be sealed...

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Sil - Silhouette - "The Huntress"

Glare, 'That Spitting Elf,' Silly

She/Her | 207yrs | 5'1" | 140lbs | Black Hair | Yellow Eyes | Grey-Blue Skin
Armeti Elf | Asexual (Closet Lesbian) | Muscular, Athletic Build
​

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This is The Huntress...

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~Looks:​

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Despite the diminutive yet voluptuous stature, she still maintains a powerful presence and intensity. Her glaring yellow eyes will glow and shift through the phases of the moon depending on her mood/intensity level. Elongated ears turn and twitch, complimenting her enhanced senses. Her black hair is styled with long bangs and cropped in the back. 3 braids with trinkets and totems denote her caste and magical prowess. Her dark and ashen skin is scarred across her body and she proudly displays each as a battle crest. She wears boots, leggings, full length gloves, epauldrons and bodice that are plated with shiny and ornate black armour wrapped up in a black, tinged-blue hooded cloak. As soon as she puts on her hood, her Billowing Shadow cloak forms. Whispering black into life, evaporating the fabric of her cloak, only her hood remains when the shadow cloak fully extends. The mystical black fabric wafts away in an unseen, rhythmic wind.​

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~Acts:​

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+ Confident, Driven, Detail Oriented
+ Perceptive, Patient, Strategist
+ Resourceful, Quick Reactor, and Resilient
+ Daring, Brave, Steel-Nerved

- Too Serious, Selfish Goals, Acts Entitled
- Poor socializer, Glares (Serious RBF), Demanding of Allies(underlings)
- Culture shock, Misunderstandings, Overprotective of Shader
- Spits a lot, Solo actor, Very Strange sense of Humour


Trivia:

• Being the runt of the litter yet still valued, she would see what she could get away with as a child; attitude still plays in her mind today
• Spitting just became a bad habit that actually started off to just annoy her sisters.
• Forbidden to be sexually active and may not bear any children lest that compromise her status and position by childrearing (actually cuz Matriarch does not want a runt to procreate and muddy up bloodlines)
• Strange sense of humour started after earning her Spirit Guide, Crescent. Only she and Shader may see and hear it speak. The Whispering spirit is actually quite sarcastic and has a bunch of one-liners that tickle her just right. Still she gladly chats with Crescent frequently.
• Despite what she has been taught to be bigoted towards surfacers, she and her sisters are very curious about them and so they have compiled a checklist of things to find out about them.
• Time as a concept is different for her so certain things surfacers find of urgency, she does not understand why the rush.
• Will turn a blind eye to Shader invading personal spaces of surfacers cuz she is just as curious about what he wants to know.
• Actually enjoys the music of surfacers and when no one is looking she will perform a dance to it.

Spirit Guide: "Crescent" - The Whispering

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~Bio:​

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• 'Silhouette' is a rough translation of her real name. Due to cultural restrictions, Surfacers are forbidden to ever use her real one.
• Mother is the bloodborn sister to the Matriarch, and so Sil and her 2 sisters were born into the Warrior Caste. One of her brothers was culled, the other was deemed worthy.
• Grew up as the runt of the litter literally since her sisters and brother grew to well over 6ft tall. She herself staved off culling due to her sheer tenacity but more so, her magical potential. She was then trained into the specialized Hunter subsect of Warriors.
• Physically she was dominated by the other warriors and lost esteem, however, over the decades, she was re-trained to fight with different techniques and was able to keep up and actually better larger foes with weapon fighting.
• Close combat was something she constantly needed to train, however, Archery and Acrobatics were like breathing to her. She was 2nd to none in this arena... although she went easy on her mother during competitions.
• Her Soul Charged rites and rituals directed her to the Way of Shadow, which was quite fitting. Sil found the magic attuned to her soul rather easily and Crescent, her Spirit Guide immediately came to her. With its guidance, she excelled weilding Shadow magic.
• At 110 she decided to take her Apex rite. Her mentors told her she was not ready, but she refuted them and went for it anyway. Deep into the caverns she found herself and into the heart of a Shadow Daemon she was thrust.
• Unarmed and naked, she was pushed to the brink of shattering her Soul but within she found the Way of her Weapon. It was not a bow as she thought it should be. No, here in the heart of darkness did she realize, the way to defeat her Daemon was to not fight alone. There was a reason she attuned to her magic and drew a spirit guide instantly. Her guide came to her side when asked. Here she was bestowed a Soul Charged Companion. And side by side, they defeated her daemon.
• Sil was rewarded with a Billowing Shadow whereby with the help of her mentors, was refashioned into a cloak and powered her longbow. Not only that but she earned the name of her lifelong shadow companion, Shader, the Mystical Great Cat.
• Despite her new found status as Apex Hunter, other members of her peoples felt very uncomfortable with Sil and her relationship with her companion. The way she treated the Great Cat was not like that of Master and Minion, but one of mutual admiration and very unfamiliar and contemptuous behaviours of affection. Yet time and again, she had proved herself as Apex; her people never once were in danger of starving and she and her scouts were elite in detecting invaders before they had chance to attack her peoples.

**The Reason:
The day Brontos called for others to aid his 'Hero', Matriarch was too eager to volunteer the Apex Hunter to aid the surfacers. But she and her people had seen what became of the lands after the ShadowReign. And being a proud and loyal Armeti, Sil ventured forward without question spurned on to ensure the ShadowReign never returns to the Armeti territory. And so she has set out to convene with the others of the Hero's entourage.​

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~Magical Abilities:​

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Companion:"Shader" - The Mystical Great Cat

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Powers:

• 'Billowing Shadow Cloak' - the focal item of her Shadow Magic.
  
  • - Aids greatly in hiding in the darkness since she may Shadow Shift -gives Silhouette the powers to meld into darkness, 'teleport' across places of darkness/shadow and see in the dark.
  • - Once the billowing mass of blackness is removed, it will reform into Shader, the Mystical Great Cat. He is her Soul Charged Companion.
  • - It is also extra dimensional space whereby she may store her equipment. Sil may actually use the space to sleep in overnight, however, Shader will be free to roam around without supervision.
• 'Longbow of the Huntress' - powerful bow that gives her enhanced senses and eagle eyed vision. Also she may actually shoot Shadow Arrows; bolts of flickering silvery blue that sap strength of the target. Powered by the Shadow Cloak.
• 'Shader' - Immense, powerful black cat that she may ride as a mount and speak to other animals through him. She may also speak with him and see through his eyes as well. He is loyal and affectionate with her and will do as asked, however he is often struck by curiosity. If injured he may only heal proper in the extra dimensional space in her cloak. Feeds from the Billowing Shadow Cloak's energy.

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[Gaius Danius Griinia]

Name:
River
Age:
20
Appearance:

Personality:
River is someone who possesses a noble heart despite the darkness engulfing his world. He believes in the ability of people to support each other to achieve great things. Yet also understands the many reasons they may act in their own self interest. Able to forgive those who genuinely desire to change for the better, even if they commit evil acts. River has been described as wearing his heart on his sleeve or being a crybaby. The truth is that he has deep empathy for those he interacts with; whether they be man, elf or demon. Incredibly impulsive when it comes to the injustice of the Shadow Lord. River is prone to dashing in to save those in need like a falcon on a swift breeze, even if his companions are against it.

Background:
River is the son of a witch named Carlotta, the result of a brief affair between her and a nobleman. His earliest years were quite lonely as townspeople didn't want to their children to befriend the local witches bastard child. So he spent most of his time with the sparrows down by the riverbed. This was where he earned his second name of Sparrow. When he got a little older, a large boar attacked the township; charging at the mayors daughter. Without a worry for his own safety. River picked up a sword and slew the boar. Although he still got knocked around before it went down. Accepted by his peers for his deed. River found warmth in the friendships he made with the other townspeople. Despite being the child of a witch, River had no magical powers. This caused him to try to compensate by working hard at whatever he put effort into. He trained with the town guard to swing a sword properly, improving his literacy with the strict nuns at the church and going with the lumberjacks to cut trees to improve his upper-body strength. Anything to make life easier for his mother, since he believed himself a failure for not manifesting magic. Eventually the Royal Knights found River and proclaimed HIM to be the Hero who would lead the charge against the Shadow Lord. Accepting the burden of everyone's hopes. River took up arms and marched against the tides of war.

Abilities:
River's abilities are the result of diligent training over many years. His strength is enough to lift bundles of oaken logs on his shoulder. Whereas his speed and stamina is equal or greater to that of a purebred stallion. Training with the town guard has afforded him skill with swords, lances and even bows. Although his preference for sabres and other lightweight blades shines through when combat begins. Living in a relatively rural township has granted River a decent knowledge of plants and their uses. Despite his insistence that he is incapable of magic. The most astute of casters would be able to spot something untapped within his body.

Reason for joining the Hero's party:
To stop the Shadow Lord

 

[Dolches]

​

• Japhet Grilstin
• The Performer

• 
  Age:
  37
  Personality:
  Japhet is a kind yet calculative man as stoic as his helmet. Not one to start nonsense, yet one to deal with it seemingly endlessly should he have to. He lives for his duty and would sooner die than fail.
  Background:
  Living his formative years in poverty and a good portion of his young adult years as a gladiator, Japhet's tomorrow was never guaranteed and rarely likely. He continued this lifestyle until a powerful spectator offered him another path of life. The then prince Brontos, seeing how he treated his work as a gladiator, wanted him to serve as his right hand man. Brontos could see right through his act. He knew that the man had complete control over situations, changing up what he did to please the crowd the best he could, even losing on purpose when they backed his opponents. When confronted about this, Japhet confirmed, and Brontos offered him something. He would help the crown prince with diplomacy and guard him. He agreed immediately, and thus was his current path in life set in motion. Signing a contract to the prince who delivered him from his past and swearing fealty to the king whom promised a land where such a thing would not happen to others, Japhet had soon been promoted to the chief guard of the royal knights.
  
• 
  Role:
  Assigned directly by King Brontos to be one of the hero's numerous mentors and protectors, he shall do exactly that. He'll participate in skirmishes, support his allies with vigorous performances of the body and voice, and lay down his very life if necessary.
  Abilities:
  Duelist:
  He is an able physical combatant, able to handily defeat any layman and able to hold his own against the cream of the crop. He usually fights in a deceitful manner with a multitude of light weapons for many situations. He's also an OK marksman and brandishes a pistol in a pinch.
  Gladiator:
  Even his combat is a performance, his actions in battles inspire allies to do the impossible and reach for the heavens.
  Bard:
  He is also a performer, adept with many instruments, he can bolster the morale of his allies and even enhance their abilities with the right tune.
  Actor:
  He is a great actor and can channel an almost unnatural charisma on command.
  Merchant's guile:
  He can do mathematics, take inventory, read a map, easily find the best deals in almost any given area, and other things that come with planning the king's travels.
  Reason for joining the Hero's party:
  King Brontos ordered him to.
  

 

[Acethekidd]

Name:
sylas
Age:
27
Appearance:
Sylas is a rather tall beastmen, standing roughly 6'8 in height. weighs, around 230 pounds. the rest is in the picture
Personality:
A very,VERY loud individual who never thinks before he jumps into a situation. Sylas is very impatient, he hates standing around and rather settle everything with his fist. Although he isn't the smartest cookie in the jar, he makes it up by being a great fighter. Magic, powers..nah..he thinks its all overrated. Sylas is willing to protect his family and allies, even if it costs him his life. Once he has his mind set on something, he'll go through with it no matter what. He is one stubborn beastman for sure
Background:
Sylas is from a rare pack of wolf beastmen, an older generation that is said to had died eons ago. Him and those in the current pack are the only known survivors. An aggressive group they are, being taught how to hunt and fight whenever they are able to walk. As for Sylas, he wasn't always the greatest fighter, although he was the eldest son and the bulkiest of his siblings. His father, the leader, would work Sylas to the bone until he was shaped into the great fighter that he is today. After his father grew ill, a fighting tournament was held to see who was strong enough to lead the pack next. Of course, it wasn't no contest..but still, his pack members still challenged Sylas to take his spot.

Despite being abit of an idiot, Sylas actually lead the pack greatly. He showed compassion to his pack members, he fended off anybody that came close to their territory and made sure everyone was doing their role within the pack. However, his role as leader would soon come to a stop. Somehow, the pack was found by an agent of the king. In exchange for his pack being protected by the kingdom, Sylas would offer his strength to take down the dark lord. Although...he was sure he could protect his pack by his self. They somehow managed to talk him into joining the group of heroes
Role:
party member of the hero/ fighter
Abilities:

• Being a beastmen, his five senses are doubled than that of you basic animal and human combined. His physical strength is great as well as his hunting skills.
• As a breed of an old race of beastmen, he has the ability to increase his battle strength by transforming into a more beastly form. looks a little something like this[click]

Reason for joining the Hero's party:
He was talked into helping. If the dark lord really could really threaten his pack, he would be willing to help stop him. Besides, fighting a dark lord seems like a fun challenge

 

[RanRed]

Name:
Val Leifsdottir and Blackbrand

Age:
25 years (Val); centuries (Blackbrand)

Appearance:

Val's imposing stature, body art, and seafarer's tan mark her out as a Reaver Clans northman. The five-foot monstrosity of black steel slung over her shoulder speaks just as plainly to her talents.

Personality:
Val fits the image of the vagabond mercenary. Loud and coarse with tankard in hand among comrades, and just as unrestrained among enemies. The kind to shrug at "deep talk" and say she has enough trouble scrounging together coin for her next meal to fuss over things like honor and duty as she holds out her mug for a refill.

"B"—as Val addresses the entity—can come across as patronizing playing mentor to its current wielder. Assuming it bothers with the effort, and persuades itself it's in sight of a different outcome to circumstances it's seen play out too often, instead of murmuring over the futility.

Background:
For centuries clans of Reavers in their longships have come howling out of the untamed north to burn a trail of ruin along the coasts of the Grijan Kingdom and its neighbors. Rumored descendants of the Shadow Lord's cultists—a claim that would invite violence from a Reaver—the enmity of their victims has neither denied northmen sellswords employment in foreign wars, nor held the clans from fighting among themselves. Born to such violence, young Val went from learning to wield a blade almost as soon as her fingers could grasp the hilt, to the burdens of a slave when her clan fell to rivals soon after reaching her teens. A common enough lot within the clans, which she tried to escape only to earn worse drudgery consigned to the forges. Where fate would find her years later, when her masters had need of the smiths and their helpers, sailing for the Grijan Kingdom to fight as mercenaries. Val alone would complete the journey, a storm having worsted even the Reavers' seamanship mid-voyage, and left the 20-year-old washed ashore as the only survivor. Gathering her wits and what remained of her masters' possessions, she posed as a freeman mercenary newly-arrived from the north, and went forth on the travels that would ultimately see her lying close to death in the bowels of an ancient ruin. Aware of her hand resting on the black steel of what looked like a sword made for a giant, and a solitary voice sighing wearily in the darkness....

Role:
"Hither came Conan...."

Abilities:
Barbarian abilities, rogue skills (Val, ex-blacksmith's helper Viking); abjuration and force magic (Blackbrand, centuries-old sentient talking superweapon)

Reason for joining the Hero's party:
Trouble with the Man (help the hero get it done OR ELSE)

 

[Darkbloom]

Name: Thomas
Age: 250
Appearance:
Attached picture
Personality: well-meaning but can sometimes sound rude even if he doesn't mean to.
Background: in his home, an Elvish city, he grows tired of the culture and normality of things. He wants more excitement, so he sets out to find that excitement among other people and races of the world.
Role: member of hero's party.
Abilities: able to pick up the use of magic relatively quickly, understand its applications and uses, can break down complex spells for others to understand. Proficient with bows and swords.
Reason for joining the Hero's party: his life in the city is rather dull. He wants excitement! Being in this party gives him that excitement and the promise of taking part in the adventure of a lifetime. That and he wants to see as much of the world as possible with a group of complete strangers.